Conservation of Linear Momentum and Energy

A pendulum is allowed to "crash" into a bar, dramatically altering its motion, but energy is conserved as is evidenced by the return swing.

Requiring little or no skill and the aid of a carpenter's square, one shot sinks two balls into the pockets.

Currently we provide two different versions of this experiment. One version uses balls rolling down a long, inclined track (roughly 2 meters), and the other version uses balls that swing on a pendulum.

Track

Same as previous except that mass ratio of balls is 1:3 (softball:basketball) leaving basketball dead and softball four times the height.

A tennis ball/basketball combination is dropped to the floor ... the tennis ball theoretically bounces to nine times the original drop height.

What it shows:

Demonstration of elastic collisions between metal balls to show conservation of momentum and energy.

How it works:

Newton's Cradle (less affectionately known as Newton's Balls) consists of six rigid balls hanging in a row with bifilar...

What it shows:

Using conservation of energy, calculate the height from which Barney must jump so that his head just barely kisses the floor at the bottom of his bungee cord jump. Then verify by experiment. Oops ... hate when that happens! It turns out...

Use conservation of energy to predict the height the arrow will reach.

What it shows:

When the string of a bow and arrow is pulled from equilibrium, the elastic potential energy in the bow is converted to kinetic energy of the arrow when the string is...

A toy car rolling down a loop-the-loop track demonstrates the minimum height it must start at to successfully negotiate the loop.

What it shows:

For an object to move in a vertical circle, its velocity must exceed a critical value vc=(Rg)^1/2, where R is the...

Faith in the conservation of energy is tested by taking the demonstrator's nose to task.

What it shows:

The principle of conservation of energy ensures that a pendulum released at a particular amplitude will not exceed that amplitude on the return swing. A...